The slogan on the Cal women's basketball promotional poster for this season is "Rising Above," which coach Caren Horstmeyer figures is wholly appropriate.

"These kids have had to rise above a lot," Horstmeyer said.

The Bears opened the 2003-04 season with an 8-2 record, the best start in Berkeley in 11 years, but then had to endure the loss of teammate Alisa Lewis, who died of spinal meningitis. A deep midseason slump followed, and the team had to win three of its final five games to post a record of 12-17 overall, 4-14 in the Pac-10.

Horstmeyer thinks her squad might have gained strength because of the adversity.

"The memories of Alisa's death are never going to go away, but the players have done a really good job of remembering her by just doing what they need to do on the court, and the new kids have really helped in that," she said.

There is a healthy influx of new talent for the Bears, headed by 6-foot-3 freshman center Jessica Lawson of Edgewood, Fla., who was strongly recruited by several other schools, including Georgia Tech and West Virginia.

"She'll kind of change our game because she gives us a physical presence on offense," Horstmeyer said. "She's not only a big body, but she's able to score with both her left hand and her right hand, and inside or outside. And she'll make all the difference in the world defensively."

The addition of Lawson will let Horstmeyer move 6-0 senior Leigh Gregory to a small forward spot from the post, where she performed capably, averaging 11.5 points and 4.9 rebounds a game, but often was outsized.

"We're excited about that because we'd like to find a way to get Leigh more shots," Horstmeyer said.

Horstmeyer, who got a contract extension that will carry her through next season, seems to have much better talent than she has had in her four previous seasons at Cal, despite the loss of guards Nihan Anaz and LaTasha O'Keith and center Olga Volkova.

The Bears appear to have narrowly missed on recruiting the hugely touted Paris twins, Courtney and Ashley, who verbally have committed to Oklahoma for the 2005-06 season.

Nevertheless, Cal's recruiting class for next year, which likely will include Oakland Tech stars Devanei Hampton and Alexis Gray-Lawson, St. Mary's of Berkeley's senior Shantrell Sneed and Urban-S.F.'s Jene Morris, has been ranked the sixth-best in the nation by Blue Star Index recruiting service.

The Bears, who have not finished better than ninth in the Pac-10 since they were sixth in 2000-01, have been picked to wind up ninth again this season in a conference media poll, but Horstmeyer likes what she has seen of her team.

"The newcomers have really come in with very competitive attitudes," she said, "and they've complemented the upperclassmen really well."

Well enough, perhaps, to surprise a few of the heavyweights in the Pac-10.